2024年3月16日发(作者：)

MACQUARIE ISLAND: from Chaos to

Conservation

麦夸里岛

:

从混乱不堪到精心保护

I am standing on Macquarie Island, in the South-west Pacific Ocean, halfway between

Australia and Antarctica. Strong winds and stormy seas have helped sculpt its long, thin

shape. The green grass and bare rock of its landscape contrast dramatically, giving it a

wild and natural beauty. No visitor would think it surprising that the island is a UNESCO

World Heritage would they fail to imagine how its native inhabitants including

royal penguins, king penguins, and elephant seals existed in perfect harmony with their

natural habitat forthousands of years. 我正站在麦夸里岛上,这里位于太平洋的西南

部,澳大利亚和南极洲的中间。强风 和惊涛骇浪将海岛塑成现在狭长的形状。绿草

和光秃的岩石形成的景观反差巨大, 使海岛呈现出一种狂野和天然的美。这座岛是

联合国教科文组织确立的世界遗产, 游客们都认为其名副其实。他们也不难想象出,

数千年来,包括帝企鹅、王企鹅和 象海豹在内的当地动物是如何与其自然栖息地

完美地和谐共存的。

But the islands more recent history tells a different story. It a tragic story that began in

1810 when humans arrived on the island. In their ships they unknowingly brought rats

and small animals quickly took over the island, eating the birds’ eggs and

attacking baby birds. Cats were brought to the island to control the rats and mice.

Unfortunately, the catssubsequently developed an appetite for the birds, too. 但是,这

座岛近些年的遭遇则是截然不同的故事。悲剧从人类1810年来到这座岛 屿开始。

他们不经意间随船带来了大鼠和小鼠。这些小动物很快就占领了岛屿, 它们吃鸟蛋

并攻击幼鸟。为控制鼠患,人们带来了猫,但不幸的是,猫随后也开始以 鸟为食。

Meanwhile rabbits were introduced to the island as a source of food for humans. Loose

on the island, they did what rabbits do best -they multiplied rapidly and began eating

the native vegetation and digging holes, which caused soil erosion. The exploding rabbit

population provided plentiful food for the cats,meaning that the number of cats also

increased. This in turn led to more cats hunting the birds. The end result was that

parakeets once large in number and native to the island. died out in 1891.

与此同时,人们把兔子引进岛上作为食物。由于在岛上放任其生存,兔子做了自己

最擅长的事一一飞快地繁殖,它们开始吃当地植被并挖洞,造成了土壤侵蚀。爆炸

式增长的兔子数量给猫提供了充足的食物,这意味着猫的数量也增加了,相应地就

有更多猫捕食鸟类。最终结果是,曾经数量众多的当地物种长尾小鹦鹉在1891年

灭绝。

Even after Macquarie Island became an official nature reserve in the 1970s, the rabbits

remained out of control. Experts felt it necessary to come up with a plan to remove all

the rabbits from the island. With this goal in mind, a virus was released onto the island.

But although the virus caused the rabbit population to decrease from 130.000 to around

10.000. it also meant less food for the cats. The cats in consequence turned their

attention-and their stomachs -back to the native birds, killing up to 60,000 each year.

In the 1980s traps and dogs were used to catch the cats. The last Macquarie Island cat

was caught in 2000.

即使在20世纪70年代麦夸里岛成为官方自然保护区后,兔子仍然不受控制。专 家

认为,必须想办法清除岛上所有的兔子。怀着这个日标,人们投放了一种病毒到 岛

上。然而,虽然病毒使得兔子的数量从130,000降到约10,000只,但这也意味着 猫

的食物变少了。因此,猫把注意力和胃口重新转向了当地鸟类 ,每年捕食多达

60,000只。20世纪80年代,人们利用捕猎夹和狗来抓猫。2000年,麦夸里岛上的

最后一只猫被抓。

But as the saying goes, "While the cat's away, the mice will play. " With the departure

of the cats from the island, the mouse and rat population started to increase. And

remember those 10,000 or so rabbits? It turned out that they developed an immunity

to the virus, and their numbers exploded once , in 2006, the rabbits digging

caused some land to collapse and killed a substantial number of penguins. This incident

made it clear that the rat, mouse and rabbit problem needed solving once and for all.

但正如俗语所说,“山中无老虎,猴子称大王”。猫从岛上消失了,小鼠和大鼠的数量

便开始增加。还记得那10,000只左右的兔子吗?它们最终对病毒产生了免疫,数量

又一次激增。随后,在2006年,兔子挖的洞造成一些土地坍塌,导致大量企鹅死亡。

这一事件清楚地表明,大鼠、小鼠和兔子泛溢的问题需要一次彻底的解决。

So, I am here on Macquarie Island to participate in the programme to tackle this very